This is the fourth and culminating module in the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) Project Suite curriculum. Student teams use information and resources from the other three modules in the project suite to create a 3D interactive solar exhibit to...(View More) educate others about the Sun and how SDO informs scientists about the Sun's activity, structures and features, and Earth-Sun interactions. Students then self-evaluate their team's solar exhibit. Both a teacher and student guide are included, as well as tools for students to self-direct and track project process, and record reflections and information. A computer for student-teams and access to the internet are needed for this module. See related and supplementary resources for link to full curriculum. The appendix includes an alignment to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).(View Less)

Learners will investigate, discuss, and determine why humans have always explored the world (and now space) around them. Students determine these reasons for exploration through a class discussion. In the first activity, students use the Internet to...(View More) examine the characteristics of past explorers and why they conducted their exploration. They then examine why current explorers - including the students themselves - want to explore other worlds in the Solar System. By the end of the lesson, the students can conclude that no matter what or when we explore - past, present, or future - the reasons for exploration are the same; the motivation for exploration is universal. Note: The MESSENGER mission to Mercury that is mentioned in this lesson ended operations April 30, 2015. For the latest information about MESSENGER and NASA's solar system missions see the links under Related & Supplemental Resources (right side of this page).(View Less)

This interactive, online module provides an introduction to the concept of a black hole. Students explore the components of a black hole by using a diagram of an accretion disk, an event horizon, and jets of hot gas. Students may complete this...(View More) activity independently or in small groups. Detailed teacher pages, identified as Teaching Tips on the title page of No Escape: The Truth about Black Holes, provide science background information, lesson plan ideas, related resources, and alignment with national education standards. This module is a subsection of "Is a Black Hole Really A Hole?" It is within the online exploration No Escape: The Truth about Black Holes available on the Amazing Space website.(View Less)

This interactive, online module allows students to discover the velocity needed to escape the Earth's gravitational pull. By completing this activity, students discover how mathematics can be used to find escape velocity. Students may complete this...(View More) activity independently or in small groups. Detailed teacher pages, identified as Teaching Tips on the title page, provide science background information, lesson plan ideas, related resources, and alignment with national education standards. This module is a subsection of "Is a Black Hole Really A Hole?" It is within the online exploration "No Escape: The Truth about Black Holes" available on the Amazing Space website.(View Less)

This interactive, online module allows learners to study the history of the discovery of black holes. Learners may work independently or in small groups to complete the activity. By completing this activity students learn the history of the...(View More) discovery of black holes. This activity is a subsection of the "Is a Black Hole Really A Hole?" within the online exploration "No Escape: The Truth about Black Holes." Detailed teacher pages, identified as Teaching Tips on the title page of the activity, provide science background information, lesson plan ideas, related resources, and alignment with national education standards.(View Less)